Down For The Count
by such a dreamer
Summary: (Eriol x Tomoyo) Just a quick fic. Eriol's come back from London, and Tomoyo is kind of uneasy because of it. Read and review, please.


"WHAT?!" Tomoyo exclaimed, alongside Syaoran. She coughed a bit, as some of her orange juice went down the wrong way.

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Sakura said happily. It was lunch break, and the three of them sat underneath a large cherry tree talking and eating.

"When?" Syaoran said nervously, "When is he planning on coming?"

"He said he should be here at the end of the week. Also said that he was planning on staying awhile too. He was quite excited about it, the last time I talked to him." She said, her bottle green eyes wide in emotion. "It'll be just like when we were in elementary school!"

Tomoyo, who had been silent for the break up until her exclamation, was still having difficulty getting her composure back to normal. She was coughing a bit still, and a hand flew to her chest. In between coughs she questioned, "Why?"

Both Syaoran and Sakura looked at her, and Sakura exclaimed, "What's wrong with it?"

_What is wrong with it?_

"Hiiragizawa Eriol is coming back to Japan? And you don't have anything to say about it?" Tomoyo said, looking especially at Syaoran. "Even you, Syaoran?"

"Well, sure, the guy is down right evil – "

He was cut off by a glare from Sakura, who swiftly interrupted him. "People change for the better, don't they? And I don't understand why you're so uptight about him coming. You two were really good friends before, weren't you?"

__

"I suppose so." She answered, although she was a little unsure. It was hard to remember those days… 

There was one last comment from Syaoran ("If he even so much as _tries_ to hit on you, Sakura, he won't know what hit him.") and then they left the Eriol subject all together. The group of seventeen-year-olds was silent after that, each of them thinking of their own thoughts.

~*~

Tomoyo stormed into the Daidouji mansion, hardly pausing to shed her boots and coat. She was absolutely furious. 

"How the hell am I supposed to get any privacy when he's here?" She questioned herself, as she ran up towards her room. "He can read me like a book!" 

Not only that, but when it was the four of them (Syaoran, Sakura, herself and Eriol) it was obvious that Syaoran and Sakura would pair up, and who would be left? 

Not that she didn't enjoy his company. Actually, she really did. She had been lonely ever since Syaoran showed up that class, straight from Hong Kong. From that day on, Tomoyo knew that she would have to share her best friend, and it made her kind of uneasy.

That was when Eriol came along – sweet, handsome, evil Eriol.

Up until then, Tomoyo was used to being behind her many facades. The two of them (she and Eriol) didn't even need to talk to understand each other, which was quite strange in the eyes of Sakura and Syaoran. It made her furious though, that when something was wrong – he knew all about it without even asking for an explanation. It was none of his business!

But when he looked at her, when his icy blue eyes locked with hers for only a moment – she was down for the count.

He was the only one that could see right through her. To everyone else, she was happy, sweet, sympathetic Tomoyo. To him, she was the _real_ Tomoyo, the one she didn't let anyone else dare see. 

"I wonder why he's coming back?" She questioned herself, settling down to her sewing machine. "He is so intimidating! The way he looks at me…"

She shook herself, and apparently finished her sentence in her head. 

"I suppose I'll just have to wait it out."

~*~

And so, Tomoyo did wait it out – which is why she found herself at the airport on Saturday evening waiting with Sakura and Syaoran. Somehow she also found herself with a bouquet of flowers which Sakura had stuffed into her hands, and Syaoran rolled his eyes.

"This is just going to be like old times, isn't it Syaoran-kun?" Sakura squealed, glancing at her boyfriend. 

Syaoran grunted in response. 

It was Tomoyo's turn to roll her eyes at the pair, and she shifted her gaze towards the gate, Eriol's gate. She sighed, and wondered how he looked after five years. Probably good, she thought.

"Excuse me, but do you know where I could find a Kinomoto Sakura? She apparently has a party of three waiting for me." They heard a deep voice state, and all three of them turned around with wide eyes.

Inky blue hair fell across sapphire eyes framed by thin wire glasses…it was Eriol standing there in front of them grinning like crazy. Sakura was the first to wrap him in a hug, pretty much jumping on him.

"Eriol-kun!" She squealed, and he laughed at his. Syaoran was looking a little uncomfortable – as in he wanted to pry his girlfriend from his former archrival.

Instead he settled for, "Hiiragizawa."

"Ah, my descendant!" Eriol exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder, then giving him a firm handshake. He quickly glanced at Sakura, and then back to him. "How are you doing?"

"Fine." Syaoran said shortly. He and Eriol looked at each other eye to eye, and were pretty much the same height. It was kind of intimidating, although the two had grown to be somewhat hesitant friends.

Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for, Eriol turned to Tomoyo.

They were silent for a moment, just looking at each other. Suddenly, without any warning, Eriol grasped her wrist, and pulled her to him. He wrapped his arms around her, and she was vaguely aware that he was quite warm.

"Hi." He said softly into her ear.

"Hi." 

And then it was over, and he released her with a nod. Nakuru had brought a luggage cart to him, and all four of them loaded his bags up. 

"Are you hungry, Eriol?" Syaoran asked casually. "We've got dinner reservations for four in about an hour."

"Famished, actually." He responded. "Nakuru and Spinel got in a food fight during the flight, so our meals were taken away from us."

Sakura laughed. "Airplane food isn't that great anyway."

Thus, after Eriol's bags and guardians were safely dropped off at his mansion, the four made their way to a nice restaurant. 

It was Sakura and Tomoyo on one side, and opposite them were Syaoran and Eriol. 

"What brings you back here?" Sakura asked him, placing a napkin in her lap, then handing another to Syaoran. "It was kind of unexpected."

"I'm not sure – I felt that I was needed here more than I was needed in London. I missed you guys." He said, averting his gaze a bit. "I was kind of lonely over there."

Tomoyo instantly knew that something had gone very wrong, but she kept her mouth shut. She figured that Syaoran was a bit suspicious on this as well, but Sakura bought it. 

"That's so sweet, Eriol-kun. We've missed you too, especially Tomoyo. I remember how you guys used to be really good friends." Sakura said, grinning a little. Her dark haired friend beside her hung her head in exasperation.

"Really? I remember those days as well, in fondness of course." He paused and then winked at Tomoyo. "Won't take us long to get into the old habit, will it Tomoyo-chan?"

She shook her head. "Of course not, Eriol-kun."

Tomoyo briefly wondered why had such a blabbermouth for a best friend, but the waiter interrupted her thoughts. 

~*~

"Well, this has been fun." Eriol stated, looking at his friends. "How about we all meet tomorrow for tea?" 

The three nodded, and so Eriol went on. "Excellent! Come over to my house around 1:00. Is that fine?"

"We'll see you then, Eriol-kun." Sakura said, and looked at her watch. "We've got to be going now, though. See you tomorrow."

She, Syaoran and Tomoyo made to leave, but for the second time that night Eriol caught the latter's wrist. He tugged her back a bit and asked, "Tomoyo-chan, why don't you come and help me unpack some stuff? Nakuru has probably already started, so naturally I'll need some extra help."

The other two had already reached Syaoran's car, and were deeply conversing with each other. She looked at them, and her shoulders slumped a bit. "Sure, Eriol-kun."

"We're going to have to walk." He said, looking over at her. He hesitantly pulled off his jacket and slung it over her. "Now you won't get cold. I'm sorry about my lack of transportation."

She shook her head. "It's alright."

The wind wasn't too cold, but it was rather crisp, and it was unusually cold for a fall evening. They walked silently down the sidewalk, wanting to understand each other, but not wanting to talk about it. 

Finally, Tomoyo couldn't take the silence any longer. "What's going on, Eriol? Why did you come back so suddenly? What about Mizuki-sensei? 

He paused his walking and said thoughtfully, "Tomoyo, when you look at me, what do you see?"

She stopped walking as well and answered, "I see in your eyes that you are wise beyond your years – wiser than the seventeen year old boy you claim to be."

"Exactly." He said, smiling a bit. "Look at me! I may have been around for awhile, but I'm still seventeen, you know? I mature at the same rate of any other normal seventeen-year-old. In the end, we decided that the age spread wasn't working out so well. She wasn't faithful to me, and I was just sick of it."

"I'm sorry, Eriol." Tomoyo said softly. "I had no idea."

For some reason, she was the only one that he could ever confide in. Like something just screamed at him to tell Tomoyo. He looked at her, reading her eyes exceptionally.

"So? What's new around here?" He asked, sticking his hands in his pockets, and starting to move again. "What have I missed out on?"

"Well, as you should know by now, Sakura and Syaoran are a couple." She said quite unenthusiastically. "It's kind of lonely."

"You have been lonely ever since he came to Japan."

"I have." She nodded. 

"I remember how lonely you were five years ago. You don't seem much different now than what you were like then." Brushing some of his dark hair away from his face, he removed his glasses and cleaned them on the hem of his shirt. "That's too bad, Tomoyo. You deserve to be happy, just like Sakura does."

She smiled at her companion. "Thanks…but it's hard. At one point we were best friends – inseparable even – and suddenly Syaoran came into her life, and I've kind of put up on the shelf on display."

"That isn't like you, to say things like that, my dear Tomoyo-chan."

"I know, and I should stop. I love that Sakura has found Syaoran at the same time as I hate it, because he treats her well and makes her happy."

They were at his mansion now, walking up the driveway. He gallantly opened the door for her, and insisted she go first. "Before we unpack some of these boxes, why don't we have a cup of tea and play a game of chess?"

She nodded hesitantly. "I think I would enjoy that."

"It'll give us a chance to catch up, won't it?" 

"It will." Tomoyo responded, and looked up at him. 

~*~

Around twelve the next day, Tomoyo made her way over to Eriol's mansion again to help Nakuru make dessert for their tea. 

After leaving yesterday night, she was suddenly struck at how much she had missed him while he was gone. She didn't remember how they had so many things in common, or how they rivaled each other excellently in chess.

"Eriol?" She called into his house. The door was open, and she didn't want to be rude. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen with Nakuru!" She heard him call back. Hesitantly she made her way through the house, only to stop and address Spinel who was reading.

The entire kitchen was absolutely covered in flour and sugar and other white powders. Tomoyo raised her eyebrows in surprise, as Eriol gave a sheepish grin. "We kind of got carried away…"

Nakuru, who was looking definitely upset at his point, cried, "Help us Tomoyo-chan! I wanted to bake with you, but Master decided to help out too!"

Tomoyo laughed a little, rolled up her sleeves, and tied an available apron around her waist. "First of all, we have to clean this up. Then we'll start from scratch, okay?"

The other two sighed, but began to clean some of the mess. 

Tomoyo was washing the dishes, and quietly humming to herself. Eriol made his way over to her and picked up a drying towel. "You seem happier than you were yesterday."

"I am." Tomoyo replied, stopping her humming. "I can't believe how much I missed you."

Putting down a dry dish, he turned to her. "I've missed you too, Tomoyo-chan. A lot."

She flushed a little and looked up at him. She found that he was looking right back at her, his sapphire eyes penetrating hers. 

The way he looked at her was something she had never seen before…his eyes shone and he smiled at her. 

She was definitely down for the count. 

~*~

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. 

Notes: Just a quick Eriol and Tomoyo fanfiction, I'm not entirely sure what this was – just something off the top of my head. I would appreciate it if you read and review!


End file.
